Severe thunderstorm watch for SE Mich. until 9 p.m.

Southeast Michigan is under a severe thunderstorm watch until 9 p.m. as more storms are expected this afternoon and into tonight, according to the National Weather Service.

Scattered to numerous thunderstorms are likely after 3 p.m. and again later tonight before 1 a.m. Some of the storms could pack cloud-to-ground lightning, wind gusts of 70 mph, hail and intense rainfall, as well as isolated tornadoes. The area with the greatest risk is toward the Ohio border.

A round of pre-dawn storms from this morning knocked out electricity to about 40,000 homes and businesses in southeast Michigan, but DTE Energy says that number has been reduced to about 32,000.

In Macomb County, there are about 3,000 outages, while Oakland County has approximately 2,000.

A DTE spokesman says it’s difficult to say when power will be restored due to the next round of severe weather expected to move in this afternoon.

We’ve already reached today’s projected high of 76 degrees. For the rest of today, expect cloudy skies and a 60 percent chance of rain. Tonight’s low will be about 61 with a 60 percent chance of rain and storms.

Thursday will see partly sunny conditions with a high of 79, but there is another round of rain headed this way for weekend.